Guilty
by SweetSandwichMuncher
Summary: This takes place when the twins are 11. Cody lets Zack take the blame for something he did, and Zack gets punished for it, and Cody feels really guilty. How will Cody make it all better?
1. Chapter 1

Carey Martin was down stairs in the middle of her show that night, and her son Zack Martin was in the game room with a couple of friends. Cody Martin, Zacks' younger twin brother was in the Martin suite, continuously debating with himself over something that his entire life he had been told not to do. He was debating about whether or not he should take a puff of this cigarette that he had found in an ash tray down in the Tipton lobby. He saw an older man smoking it, and put it down into the tray not even half finished. After the man had left, Cody had ran up to it, sneakily taking it and running back up to his suite, which was where he was now, examining it. Cody didn't know what had gotten into him. _Should I take a puff?_He thought to himself._ I know mom will kill me, if she finds out._ _I'd be in so much trouble.. but it would only be one puff. I just want to know what it tastes like. It can't be bad, right? Lots of people smoke.. _He looked down into his hand at the cigarette, practicing holding it, like he had seen so many others hold it. _Should I do it? Well, why not? Mom won't be here for at least a half an hour, and Zack is with Max and Tapeworm. If I do it, I better just do it now, get it over with. Now, how to light it... _He began searching the drawers in the kitchen for a match, or lighter. He had never used either one before, so he was kind of nervous. After about five minutes, he finally found what he was looking for. A lighter. _Okay, step one completed. _He walked over by the couch, standing in front of it. He tried to flick the lighter on, but nothing happened. _Man, this is harder than it looks.. _He tried again, and got a spark. _Almost.. _He tried again.. and again. Still unsuccessful, he kept at it. He was so caught up in trying to light the cigarette, he hadn't heard his brother walk in through the door.

Zack stopped dead in his tracks, staring at his brother and the cigarette and lighter that he held in his hands. He never would have thought that his brother would attempt to do something so dumb. Not even he would do something like this. He walked up to his brother and snatched the cigarette out of his hands, causing Cody to drop the lighter, and stare wide-eyed at his brother. _Dang it! I thought I was alone! When did Zack come in?_ "Cody! What are you thinking?" Zack shouted. "Mom'll kill you if she finds out!". Cody stared at his brother ashamed. "I..I.. ju-just want.. wanted to uh.. taste.. taste it", he stammered. "What, are you stupid? Why would you want to taste it for?" Zack returned. "Because.. so many others smoke! It can't be that bad right?" Cody asked, hopeful that his brother would understand. "I was only going to take one puff, honest!". Zack gave his brother a look, which caused Cody to shrink back a little. It was then, that the silence was broken.

Carey had returned from her show, only to find that her oldest son Zack was holding a cigarette. She marched up to him, red in the face, and smacked his hand that was holding the cigarette. "What is going on here? Zackary Martin, why are you holding a cigarette?" Zack looked up at her, speechless. Right when he opened his mouth to speak, he caught eye contact with his brother. The look that Cody gave him was fear. _Please please PLEASE don't tell on me Zack. I'll do anything, just don't tell on me. _Cody stared at his brother, pleading with his eyes that Zack understand and make up some convincing excuse of as to why he was holding that darned cigarette. That shouldn't be to hard, right? Zack was good at making up excuses. Surely he could come up with something convincing. Carey coughed out an "Ah HEM", regaining Zack's attention. "Well?", she demanded. Zack, not being able to come up with anything, just looked up at her and mumbled, "Uhhhhhh...you see...". Carey raised her eyebrows at him, and gave him a stern look which obviously read 'You had better get to the point if you know whats good for you'. "You see..", he continued, "I um. Was curious about.. about what a cigarette tasted like and..". Cody stared in shock at his brother, his mouth practically dropping to the ground. _What? How can he just blame himself like that? Now he's going to get in trouble because _I _messed up!_ Cody was about to speak, and tell his mom that he was the culprit, and that he was the one that she needed to punish, when Carey shocked them both by ripping the cigarette out of Zacks hands. "Zackary, I am very disappointed in you. Normally I wouldn't do this, but since I know that you know better, and this is a very bad choice that you made, I am going to spank you. Eleven spanks with my hairbrush, one spank for every year I've told you that smoking is bad. Now go get my hairbrush".

Zack just stood there, rooted to the ground. Did he hear his mom right? She was actually going to spank him? With her hairbrush? But he hadn't done anything! It was okay, Cody was going to jump to his defense any moment now. He glanced over at his brother. As soon as Cody noticed his brother looking at him, he shot his glance towards the ground. Zack's heart dropped. Cody didn't care that he was about to be spanked for something he didn't even do. Something that he had tried to prevent Cody from doing. Zack felt his eyes begin to tear up. Some brother he had. He snapped his head back up to his moms direction, hearing her ask him if he had heard her. "Yes, but mom.." he tried, but was interrupted. "Zack, you have 5 seconds to get that brush and then get back here!" his mom yelled, clearly getting angrier and angrier as time went by. However, that didn't stop Zack from trying again. "But.." Zack heard himself say. "No buts! Zack, you made your choice, and now your getting a consequence! This is what happens when you disobey me! And if you continue to disobey me, your punishment will only get worse!", she threatened. Zack reluctantly dragged his feet to the bathroom, where he not so quickly searched for his moms hairbrush.

Cody stared at his mom in disbelief. _I don't think mom has ever spanked us with anything but her hand. This is bad. This is really really bad, I can't believe I'm letting Zack get in trouble for me. I am such a bad brother. _Carey turned to her other son. "Did you have anything to do with this, Cody?", she asked as she bore her eyes into his. Cody's mouth went dry as he felt the fear creep back into his heart. He really never was good at getting in trouble, or accepting punishment, even when he knew he deserved it. He let his fear get the better of him, and instead of standing up for his brother and setting their mom straight about who should really be receiving this punishment, which is what would have been the right thing to do, he quickly shook his head back and forth. Zack silently watched from the bathroom doorway, realizing that his brother really was going to let him take this spanking. Zack's head dropped, along with any previous hope that he was going to get out of this. He slowly made his way to his angry mother and back-stabbing brother, and handed the brush to her.

"Okay Zack, take your pants and underwear down", Carey said as she sat on the couch. "Huh? My pants? And underwear? Down?" Zack gulped. He hadn't expected this. "Yes. Down. Now." she growled at him. When Zack just stood staring dumb-founded at her, with tears threatening to pool over at any moment, Carey spoke in a calm but very stern voice. "Zackary, get your pants and underwear down right this instant. You're already getting 15 more smacks with my hand for your disobedience, and I really do not want to give you anymore. If you fail to do so, you will really regret your decision, trust me". "FIFTEEN! Mom, please don't spank me that many times..", Zack trailed off as his tears fell down his cheeks. Zack was then dragged towards his mothers lap, with his pants and underwear being torn down to the ground. "Yes, fifteen. 5 for each time you chose to ignore what I was saying to you. In addition, you're also not going to be going to that Linkin Park concert that your father was going to take you and Cody to next weekend." "Mom!", Cody suddenly cried. Zack hopefully looked at his brother. Maybe he was going to admit the truth now! "Thats not fair!", Cody continued. "And why isn't it fair, Cody?", she asked him. "Because... because you're already spanking him, isn't that enough?", Cody said in a hurry. Zack glared at his brother through teary eyes. Of course he wouldn't tell their mom the truth. He was to much of a coward. How could he have even thought such a thing? Zack glanced sadly at their mother, desperately wanting to beg to go to the concert, but he was afraid if he did so that he'd get further punishment. So instead, he just let her pull him across her lap and waited for the spanking to begin. Meanwhile, Cody tried to escape and go into their bedroom, but was unfortunately stopped. "Get back here, Cody. You're going to watch your brother get this spanking, because this is what will happen to you if you ever decide to try smoking". _But mom, I really don't want to watch. Especially since its all my fault and I'm to much of a coward to tell you the truth. _Cody sat down on the armchair across from his mom and brother, where he had a nice view of Zack's behind, which was soon to be bright red. He watched as his mother picked up the brush, and slammed it down onto his big brother, who was a much better brother than he deserved. Who else's brother would lie to his mom about trying to sneak a smoke and then take a spanking, which he didn't deserve, and still keep quiet when he got told that he won't be going to a concert with his father, that he'd been waiting for months to go to? Cody knew that was what was going to hurt Zack the most, the concert. He had been wanting to go to a Linkin Park concert for about a year and half now. His mom would have never taken them or allowed them to go, but since the boys would be going with their father, she felt it would be okay just this once to make an exception. The boys hardly ever even saw their father, or talked to him, and she knew it would be very special for him to take the boys to a concert. But now that dream was shattered for Zack, because he would probably never get the chance again. Cody was excited about it too, but definitely not as much as Zack was.

Cody was brought back to the present by his brothers sobbing and howls of agonizing torture that was being rained upon his behind. His mom had finished with the hairbrush, leaving an already cherry colored bottom. But that still didn't stop her from finishing up with the hand spanks that she had promised. _I'm sure glad I'm not the one over mom's knee_ Cody thought guiltily to himself. _I'm sorry Zack. I really am. I hope you can forgive me. _Zack was then pulled up off of his moms lap, into a standing position, and continued crying thick tears as his mom pulled his pants & underwear back up. Carey then hugged her son, and kissed him on the cheek, while wiping the tears away from his eyes with her thumb. "Sweetie, I'm sorry I had to spank you so much, but thats what you get for not listening. You know better than to try to smoke a cigarette, and hopefully I won't have to spank you again for the same thing, understand?", she asked as she took his chin in her hand, and forced him to look her in the eyes. Zack responded with more tears, and as soon as she let go of him, he ran to his room crying.


	2. Chapter 2

Once in his room, Zack flung himself onto his bed and buried his head into his pillow and continued to sob. He wasn't so much crying because of the spanking, sure it hurt, and he probably wouldn't be able to sit without being reminded of it for at least the rest of the day, maybe even into tomorrow, but he mostly was upset about not being able to go to the LP concert, and the fact that he had a back-stabbing brother who obviously didn't care about his well-being. Cody only cared about himself, because if he cared about Zack at all, he would have set their mom straight before she began spanking an innocent behind. But unfortunately for Zack, Cody was more the type to avoid a painful punishment at all costs, even if it meant blaming his twin brother.

Cody rose from where he was seated in the living room, telling himself that he really needed to go in the room with Zack and apologize. _What if he doesn't forgive me? What if he hates me? _Cody put his hand on their bedroom doorknob, and just stood there for a minute, fighting with the two sides of his brain, one telling him to go in there and apologize, and the other telling him to stay out here where it was safe. Carey noticed him stalling and asked, "Is everything okay, sweetie?" Snapped out of his thoughts, Cody looked up to find his mom staring at him. "No.. I mean uh, ye-yes, everything's okay.." he quickly replied, instantly regretting it, since it caused his mother to look at him suspiciously. "You sure, honey? You look kind of nervous." Cody rolled his eyes in a way that he hoped looked like he thought she was completely wrong. "Naahh, I'm not nervous at all.. I was uh.. just going to uh.. check on Zack, that's all." Carey walked over to him, pulling him away from the door while suggesting that he stayed out in the living room for awhile, to give Zack some time to calm down. Cody reluctantly agreed, only because if he insisted on going in the room now, his mom would surely think something was up, and there was no way that he wanted his mom to find out the truth. The truth being that he was a low-down lying, backstabber that blamed his crime on his twin brother. No, there was no way he wanted her to find that out. _I feel so ashamed. And now I can't even go in and apologize cause mom's right there.. although, maybe this is a good thing. Who even knows if Zack'll even forgive me. For all I know he could end up hating me forever. I'm so stupid, STUPID! _"Honey? Honey! I'm going to go down to the store and pick up some things for dinner. Will you be okay here till I get back?" Cody nodded. "Okay, I should be back in about an hour.. tell Zack he's not to leave the suite, you either, got it? Love you." Again, Cody nodded while mumbling sadly "Love you" as his mom walked out the door.

Now that his mom was gone, there was absolutely nothing stopping him from going into his and Zack's bedroom except the fear that Zack wouldn't forgive him. Cody remained on the couch, slowly swinging his feet back and forth, causing the 'thud thud' of his feet hitting the couch to be the only sound in the suite. Other than that, the room was dead quiet. _Maybe Zack fell asleep.. I don't here him at all.. If I go __in now, and he's not awake then he can't say I didn't try.. that way, I'd be in the clear. Yeah, I think I'll do that. _Cody hopped up off of the couch and made his way towards the door. He took a big breath, and slowly opened the door, trying to make as less noise as possible. He really didn't want to confront his brother just yet, he wasn't ready. When he finally got the door open enough to see inside, he was shocked to discover his brother sitting upright in the bed with obvious dried tears covering his cheeks, and staring straight at him. _Crap. _Was the thought that instantly crossed Cody's mind.

**I'm SO SORRY its so short.. but I have just been really busy lately, with college and all.. I'm sorry. I'll try and update soon..**


	3. Chapter 3

"What do _you_ want?" Zack asked sounding heartbroken. Cody instantly noticed Zack's sad expression, and regretted coming in here. Even without looking at him, Cody could tell that Zack was very upset with him. "Well? What did you come in here for?" he repeated. "I wanted... I wanted to make sure you were okay.." Cody mumbled, knowing it was a stupid thing for someone to say after they just let their sibling take a punishment for something that they didn't do. "Make sure I was okay? Really? Really, Cody? Yeah I'm just fine. Thanks for caring so much! Thanks for caring enough to let mom know who really wanted to taste that stupid cigarette!" Zack replied in a sarcastic tone. "I..." Cody started. "Leave me alone, Cody!" Zack threw a pillow in the direction of his brother, missing because of his horrible mood. Not that he really cared. He just wanted to be left alone. "But Zack, I.." he tried again. "GO AWAY!" Zack yelled, leaping off his bed and pushing Cody out the door, and shutting it afterward. "Zack, I'm sorry" Cody whispered to the door.

_Well that went well _Cody thought to himself. He leaned his head against the closed bedroom door, cursing silently. _It's just like I thought. He's never going to forgive me. At least... not for a long time. Maybe I will have better luck later? Yeah right, he was super upset. I bet the only way he'll forgive me is if I tell mom the truth. I'm not even sure he'd forgive me then. _Sighing, he let his legs carry him to the couch. He turned on the T.V and started flipping through the channels, not really watching any of them. He had just finished watching a 3rd episode of The Suite Life of Bob and Charlie when his mom came in through the door.

"Hey Sweetie, Sorry I took so long, there was a really long line. Zack still hasn't came out yet?" his mother asked him. Cody just shook his head. "Well he's gonna have to come out soon, because it won't be to long until dinner's ready. I'm making spaghetti! How does that sound?" she asked her younger twin. "Great, mom." Cody replied unenthusiastically. Carey began preparing dinner.

Hearing his mom come in and mention dinner, Zack jumped into his bed and pulled the covers up over his head. He really didn't feel like being social at the moment. Maybe if she thought he was asleep she wouldn't tell him to come eat dinner.

Approximately 25 minutes later, Carey opened the bedroom door. Seeing her son sleeping, she walked over to him and sat on the end of the bed. She pulled the covers off of him and gently rocked him to wake him up. "Honey, dinner's ready. You have to get up okay?" Zack looked up at his mom and tried his best to sound sick. "Mom, I'm not feeling so well. I think I should skip dinner tonight." He pulled the covers back up over his head. Carey pulled them back down. "No, honey, get up. You don't have it eat it all, but I want you to try and eat some." She stood up, waiting for Zack to get up too. Zack just sat there. "Zack, come on, Cody's already at the table waiting for us." Still, Zack remained rooted onto his bed, hoping that his mom would just give up and go have dinner without him. "Zack, get up right now, and go sit at the table. I'm not asking you" His mother spoke to him sternly. Zack glared at his mom, not meaning to. "I don't want dinner" he replied. Getting annoyed, Carey walked over to her son and grabbed him by the arm. She started pulling a very uncooperative Zack off of the bed. Zack stiffened his entire body, trying his best to not move from the bed. "Zackary! Stop this, this instant!" She yelled at him, while dragging him towards the door. Finally she got to the table, and pushed Zack down into his chair, and watched as he sulkily sunk into it.

Carey sighed to herself as she watched Zack sink into his chair. _Maybe he's still upset about me spanking him with a brush. I know I've never done that before, and it was bound to upset him, but I didn't think it would effective him this much. However, thats no excuse to willingly disobey me. It hurt me just as much as it hurt him to have to spank him. But I can't allow my children to smoke. That is just unacceptable. I haven't seen him act like this and be so disobedient since he was 6. I'll have to have a talk with him, perhaps after dinner. _Carey sat down in her chair and began eating dinner.

The table was completely silent, if you didn't include the forks hitting the plates. "Zack, eat your dinner" Carey said, as she watched him pick at his food. Zack slowly brought the fork to his mouth, looking up at his mom as he did so. Carey couldn't understand what had her son so upset. Yes, she had spanked him, and yelled at him. But that had been over 3 hours ago. Usually, he would be over it by now. Cody was the one to usually get upset after being yelled at, or punished. She glanced at her younger son. He hadn't taken his eyes off of his plate since the moment his brother had entered the room. _What is going on with these two? _

Carey noticed her youngest son's plate was completely free of spaghetti, and so, cleared his and her plate from the table. When she returned, she sat two plates of chocolate cake down. When Zack reached for one, she pushed his hand away and gave him a stern look. "You lost your chance at dessert when you decided you were going to fight me. Don't ever do that again, do you understand me?" She asked him. Zack's face fell. Chocolate cake was his favorite dessert, and his mom hardly ever bought any. And the one time that she does, he's not allowed a piece. _I can't believe this! Mom knows how much I love chocolate cake.. I HATE Cody! If it weren't for him, none of this would be happening to me. Why did I have to walk in right when he was lighting that cigarette? Why didn't I just let him do it? But noooo.. I had to play the role of a good big brother. I had to take it from him, and then I had to get punished for taking it from him. _Zack stared angrily at the table, while muttering "Yes mam", to answer his mothers question.

Cody's guilt just kept growing and growing and growing. It was bad enough when he had let Zack get spanked, and blamed for smoking. But that on top of this? Now he was being denied his favorite dessert! This was getting ridiculous. He had to do something. "Zack, its okay, I don't really feel in the mood for chocolate cake, you can have mine." He told his brother, pushing the plate towards him. Carey, hearing what Cody said, spun around just in time. "Not so fast. Zack isn't having dessert, remember? If you don't want it Cody, I'll put it in the fridge for you." she said looking down at her boys. Before another word was said, Zack lost control and had angrily flipped the plate up and knocked it onto his mother. He hadn't meant for it to land on her, he was just so angry that he had to lash out at something. And it just so happened that the plate of cake had been the closest thing around.


	4. Chapter 4

"ZACKARY MATIN!" His mother screamed. "WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU?" She glared down at him expecting an answer immediately. Zack sunk down even lower into his chair, crossing his arms, refusing to look up at her. "Zackary!" his mother repeated. When she got no response, she bent down to his eye level and tried to forcefully move his head to look at her, but he stubbornly tried to stay where he was and not move. Carey was losing her patience. Zack was being unbelievable, he was never this bad! "Young man, I am losing my patience with you, and I don't know what I am going to do with you. I'm considering putting you back over my lap! Is that what you want?" Carey shouted at him, to the shock of both her boys.

Zack knew that what he did was wrong. He really did not mean to flip the cake onto his mom, or to fight with her in the bedroom. He didn't mean to not let her move his head to make him look at her. It all just sort of happened. He was just so overwhelmed and angry at his brother for putting him in this mess, that he felt he had to get it all out. Unfortunately, taking your anger out on your mom probably wasn't the best solution, especially if she recently spanked you for smoking. Well, for believing that you were smoking. No, not a good idea to anger an already angry bear. Zack felt his eyes warm up with fresh tears at the threat of another spanking. This day just kept getting worse and worse.

Cody, feeling very out of place in this situation, stayed sitting on the chair and glued his eyes to his mother as she screeched at his older brother. _Oh. My. GOD. I can't believe Zack just threw cake at mom. He is so going to get it. What on EARTH was he thinking? _Cody was perfectly silent as the events just kept playing out. He sucked in a breath when he heard his mom suggest another spanking. _Oh crap, he's done it now. Please don't let him screw up even more. _Cody was shocked to realize his brother was now crying.

"I'm...sorry, mom. Ple..please don't spank me" Zack whispered, barely audible. He kept his eyes on the table as he waited for his mom to reply.

"Zack, I want you to go in your room and wait for me, is that clear?" Carey asked her son. She watched as he nodded once and got up off of his chair, and made his way into the bedroom. Carey found a napkin, and began wiping her blouse, trying to get off all the chocolate that was smeared on her top. Sighing, she looked over at Cody who was watching her. "Do you know why your brother is acting so strangely?" She asked him. Cody looked like he really wanted to say something, but all he did was shrug. She watched him for a few more moments, hoping that he would say anything to help clear her mind, but received nothing. She told Cody to clean the mess up off of the floor and began walking towards the bedroom door.

Inside the room, Zack had sat on his bed, and was now hugging his knees, and crying quiet tears. Realizing he screwed up big time, all he could think about was the surely painful spanking he was going to receive. When his mom walked in, taking a seat next to him on the bed and wrapping her arms around him, he was taken off guard. "Why are you hugging me?" he responded, sniffling.

"Zack" She began, as she turned him to look at her, happy that he wasn't resisting this time. "I don't know what's gotten into you today, but I know something has because you're never like this. However, just because something is bothering you, it doesn't give you the right to act the way you have acted. Your behavior today was unacceptable, and I am grounding you for 3 weeks. No T.V, no video games, no leaving this suite." She paused and looked at him. He was fidgeting with the bottom of his shirt. "So.. you're not going to.. spank me?" he timidly asked, avoiding looking up at her. She hugged him closer to her. "No sweetie. I'm not." Zack let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding, and sunk deeper into the warm embrace of his moms arms. He snuggled up to her, feeling like maybe things were going to get a little better. "Why don't you tell me whats wrong, sweetie?" She asked him. At this, he tensed up a bit, not knowing what to say. "Is it about me spanking you with a brush?" Grateful for the excuse, he nodded. After all, it was partially correct. "Honey, I didn't want to spank you just as much as you didn't want to be spanked. I still love you just as much as I always have. You do know that, right?" she asked worriedly. Zack looked up at her sadly and shakily said "Mmhm. I love you too, mom". With that, she kissed the top of his head, and smiled down at him. "Okay sweetie. Just as long as you know. And it won't ever change. I'll always love you". She stood up from the bed, and asked "Honey, did you want to finish dinner?". Zack's slightly happier expression dropped, and he just looked at his mom, feeling like he didn't have a choice. He began to get off the bed to follow her into the kitchen when she told him he didn't have to if he didn't want to. With his smile brought back, he thanked her and laid down in his bed to go to sleep. He really wanted this horrible day to be over.

**Review? I really hope you guys like it so far, your reviews really make me very happy. I'm going to be at a friends house for awhile, so I don't know when I'll be able to update again. And****, Thank you Wyntirsno for reviewing so many times!**


	5. Chapter 5

It was the next morning, and Cody had just woken up. He looked at the other side of the bedroom, where his brother was still sleeping. He had planned on apologizing yesterday night after the whole cake incident, but when he had went in, Zack had already been sleeping. To be honest though, he was pretty relieved to say the least, that he hadn't had to confront his brother. Cody rolled out of his bed, putting his house shoes on, and wandered into the kitchen quietly not wanting to wake anyone up. Carey was not there. _Guess its just me and Zack for now, then_. He sat on the sofa in deep thought. _I'll tell mom the truth. I have too. As soon as she gets back, that's what I'll do. Then I'll tell Zack how sorry I am. Surely he would forgive me then, after mom knows he's innocent. _He sighed to himself. His stomach continued to flip as he thought about how his mom would react to the news. _I've never kept something like this from her, before. I know she'll be mad. No, furious probably. But won't she be happier that I told the truth? I mean, its better than keeping this secret from her forever, right? She always says how important it is to not lie, and to just be honest. I think she'll be glad that I did the right thing, in confessing. Yeah, she'll be proud….. I hope. _Cody's thoughts kept running through his mind. More than anything, he was just trying to convince himself that his mom wouldn't go completely ballistic on him, and to keep his sanity and remain in contact with his plan of confessing.

Zack opened the bedroom doorway, and strolled in, completely ignoring that his brother even existed. Cody looked up at him and watched him as he got out a box of cereal and began pouring it into a bowl. "Good morning Zack", Cody greeted his brother. Zack ignored him. "Zack?", Cody asked. Again, no response. Cody waited a few minutes, soaking in the fact that his brother was ignoring him, while also trying to find a way to get him to talk. He got up and made his way to the table, where his brother was sitting. Zack got up and sat on the sofa. "You know mom doesn't like for us to eat on the sofa", his brother pointed out. Zack glared at him. "Well mom isn't here right now, is she?". "But she could be back any minute! Then you'd get in trouble. Well, more trouble.." Cody replied, regretting his choice of words. At this, Zack stood up angrily, spilling the milk from the bowl in the process. "I wouldn't even _be _in trouble, if it weren't for you! And now look what you've done! You made me spill my milk!", he shouted, pausing, "Great, now what am I going to do?" he rhetorically asked, as he fell back down onto the couch in a pout.

Seeing that his brother obviously felt defeated, he jumped at this chance to begin to try and make it up to him. Cody grabbed the bowl of cereal, rushing over to the sink, where he dumped it. He grabbed some paper towels, handing some of them to Zack and started to dab the couch and rug. "I'll tell mom that I did it", Cody told his brother. Zack humphed, "Why bother? I'm already in lots of trouble anyway. What's one more offense going to do to me?" he retorted. "No, I mean I'll tell mom that she shouldn't have spanked you..". Realization hit the older twins face. He looked at his brother hopefully. Then, as he thought about it, he snorted and replied, "Yeah right. You couldn't confess if you were paid." "No really! I will! I promise Zack, and I'm really really sorry! I never should have let that happen", Cody insisted to his older brother. Zack had no response for his brother's comment, trying to believe his words. Choosing to not reply at all on this subject, he faced the other way and mumbled, "I hope you do".

**I know this is really short, and I apologize, but I've been moving from house to house a lot lately, and wanted to update, even if it was just a smidge. **


	6. Chapter 6

Cody sat down next to his twin on the couch and clicked on the T.V. The two wordlessly sat there watching Phineas and Ferb and various other shows, until Cody got up to go the bathroom. By the time he had come out, his mother had come back and was now questioning Zack about the spilt milk that the boys had forgotten about. Apparently, they hadn't done a very good job of cleaning it up. Cody stood by the arm of the couch, leaning against it. Noticing her youngest son's arrival, Carey turned her attention to him. "Cody, do you know how milk got on the couch?" "Milk?" Cody repeated back to her, like a clueless deer in headlights. "Umm…can I...can I talk to you?" He asked nervously. "Of course you can, sweetie. But first, I want to know how milk got on my couch and rug" she replied, with a tint of anger in her voice. She constantly told the boys that she didn't want either one of them to eat on the couch, but yet they hardly ever listened to her, which was why the couch was filled with stains. Which was exactly the reason she didn't want them eating on it. She eyed the two of them, waiting for an answer. Zack looked up to his brother, and back at his mom, with a new hope that hadn't been there before. _Finally, now I won't be in trouble anymore.. well I will be when she finds out I spilt the milk.. but that's pretty minor compared to the rest of the things I've gotten in trouble for lately. _Zack waited impatiently to hear his brother's words stating that he was innocent. Maybe he should just tell his mom that he did it now, to speed up Cody's talking to her. "Mom, I.." he was interrupted by his brother.

"Um. I did it, mom." Cody stated fearfully, staring up at his mom. As he continued to stare at her, she seemed to grow in height, and continued to grow and grow and grow, until she was so tall she seemed to hit the ceiling. "You spilt the milk on the couch?" She asked, to confirm. Carey's expression morphed more impatient by the second, as she waited for the boy to answer her. The beats of Cody's heart continued to increase in speed as he tried to push the words out of his mouth. "I um. I.. I..", Try as he might, he remained unable to form a sentence.

"I think what he's trying to say is, that he is the one who.." Zack started, no longer knowing where his brother was going with this. "Spilt the milk mom, yes, I did it!" Cody finished unexpectedly, as a last second change of decision settled itself upon him. "No he didn't, I did!" Zack shouted, mainly towards his brother, and not his mom. Carey looked at the two in confusion. "Well I never thought you'd argue over who's going to get in trouble." She said, trying to wrap her head around the concept. Cody's eyes darted around the room, looking anywhere but his brother's eyes. He just couldn't face him right now, after he'd told him he was going to confess. And then didn't. _I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry._ Finally, he glanced up at his brother, only to see him fuming. His fists were balled up by his sides, and Cody could tell that he was going to explode any moment now. "Since you can't decide who did it, I guess neither one of you will be having dessert tonight." Their mother stated, breaking the silence, "Unless one of you wants to.." she was interrupted. "I HATE YOU CODY!" Zack yelled at the top of his lungs. "I HATE YOU MORE THAN I EVER HAVE BEFORE!" he finished, stomping off towards his room, slamming the bedroom door behind him. Cody stood there speechless, with tears about to fall out of his eyes. He looked at his mom's confused expression, and wiped at his eyes with the back of his sleeve, sniffling. "What did you do, Cody?" Carey asked him, while rubbing his back with her hand. "I think.. I think I just made Zack hate me forever." He responded sadly, staring at the ground. His mother sighed, "Zack doesn't really hate you. I'm sure he'll get over whatever it is that he's mad about. Why don't you go apologize to him? Talk to him about it. Or talk to me about it. We'll figure something out." "That's my problem mom. I don't know how to talk." He mumbled, leaning his head against her in shame. Carey held in a giggle at his last sentence, running her fingers through his hair. She turned him around, bending down so they were eye to eye. "I'm sure everything's going to be fine, sweetheart." With that, she kissed his forehead, and continued on with her chores for the day. _I bet if she knew why we were fighting, she wouldn't have tried to be so comforting. _He watched his mom begin to wash the dishes. _There has got to be some other way at fixing this. I suppose I could try talking.. but not to mom or Zack. Zack wouldn't let me get a single word out anyway, and mom wouldn't understand. _He stood there, going through every possible name that he could come up with. After what seemed like ages, it dawned him. _Maddie! _


End file.
